I'm back to looking in the lower-mid levels and was recommended to look at the 7870 GHZ edition cards. I found one for $200. There's another card that was mentioned in benchmarks called the "PowerColor PCS+ 7870 MYST Edition" it's $50 more than the sapphire at $250. I heard it's a budget 7950. Should I get it to futureproof myself? or is the extra $50 just for a little improvement?

I'm currently sitting on a EVGA 460GTX that is starting to show its age even after a minor OC.

Well the Sapphire HD 7870 Ghz is a standard HD 7870 Ghz, whereas the PowerColor PCS+ 7870 is the Tahiti LE HD 7870, which is more kin to the HD 7950 than 7870. If you want to "future proof" yourself, then you need to look at the HD 7970, but if I were looking just at those two cards, I would save the $50 and go with the Sapphire and overclock it.